Juve's tone was a mixture of contempt and anger. The superintendent was staggered. Juve's anger increased.
"It does not mean anything," he repeated. "Inhibition! Inhibition! It is the term reserved for deaths that are unexplained and inexplicable: it is the term with which science covers herself when she does not wish to confess her ignorance."
The magistrate was smiling now.
"So then, Juve, you conclude that Professor Barrell has declared that this officer had died through inhibition because, in fact, he was ignorant of the cause of death?"
"Exactly!" snapped Juve.
He was kneeling on the floor, bending over the body. Slowly, minutely, he was examining it with his keen eyes, by the flickering light of the mortuary candle.
He had examined successively the face of the dead man, then the arms, the trunk, the shoulders, the whole body. He did not utter a word.
"What are you looking for in particular, Juve?"
"The cause of this inhibition," replied the detective, who pronounced the word with unconcealed anger and resentment. He seemed to harbour some subtle rancour regarding the doctor. Suddenly he got up and, turning to the policeman, commanded:
"Undress this body!"